Just wondering if anyone that has used this material has any thoughts positive or perhaps negative.

Thanks
Jeff Leonard

Muskyfsh

Jeff,
It is a product that works very well.
The appearance is certainly different than cork and must be appreciated for its utilitarian value.
It is very very very tough. It has a non slip surface, even when wet and or slimy.

It needs a stanley surform planer or similar for all of the initial shaping, because sandpaper simply won't shape it very well.

However, once built into a handle - it is virtually bullet proof. Many many folks who to hard hard fishing in tournaments, muskie, walleye and bass fishermen prefer the use of this product since it is so tough and virtually industructable.

The appearance is in the eyes of the beholder.

Very good product for specific uses.

p.s.
I had some interesting discussions with the chemist who developed and who holds the patent on the product. He told me some of the development stories to get the product to market and the amount of research and time with the product spent in the hands of fishermen to get the formula correct for its intended use.


Take care
Roger



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/01/2009 09:12PM by roger wilson.

I glued up a grip with Rod Bond to test out last week prepring for the NERBs gathering this past Saturday. Made 2 4" sections, applied Rod Bond to both faces of teh rings, glued and clamped the heck out of them. Ame back the next day, sanded them down no problem using regular sandpaper like I use on cork and EVA and Hypalon. GRips looked reall nice, until I saw a gap between 2 rings. GRabbed both sides, adn pulled rings apart. Grabbed teh other grip, pulled it apart. Oh no. MAybe I dind't mix the Rod Bond properly? Checked my vinyl tile I use to mix - Rod Bond was set up just fine. Apparanly Rod bond was allergic to teh rings when I tried gluing them together?

I got some glued with epoxy and they also came apart . Apparently hard to glue well?

Mo

I don't have any idea what the glueing issue is that the folks have had with the rings.
I have built several handles using these rings with common 30 minute epoxy with no issues at all.
The only thing that might be the case is that sometimes dust or other contaminant could get on the face of the ring which would then isolate the ring from the glue.
After reaming rings - whether it is cork or other material, I always use high pressure air to blow out all of the dust and other contaminants before applying glue. That insures that there is simply not dust lying in the voids and or spaces of the rings to hold glue without actually getting glued to the ring structure.

Give the rings another try, making sure that you have the rings clean, if you didn't already do that.

Take care
Roger

One thing that could be causing the gluing problems is the little nubs on the flat sides of the rings. It looks like they were part of the mold, but on mine there's a little circular patch of nubs that stick up a little. I just shaved them off with a razor blade before gluing. The main problem I was having with these rings was melting when I was sanding them. I shaped them with the surform, but they seemed to melt really easily when sanded. I guess the appearance really is in the eye of the beholder. Mine has alot of whitish specks that look like the dye in the foam didn't take all the way. They're very functional, but the look wasn't what I was going for. Maybe I'll end up flocking them or something.....

I have found that most of the epoxies that I have used for bonding have a very high shear strength. The epoxy is brittle compared to the Syncork, when you bend it the epoxy will break at the joint. There may be a better adhesive for the job than epoxy; you may want to try some of the poly (Gorilla) glues. They are messy and foam, but I have found that they are a little more forgiving than epoxy as it is more flexible and will hold pieces that are not porous together a little better. I have had no issues gluing plastics and stabilized woods together with poly glues, but have had a night mare with epoxies. One other thing to remember is after a grip is fitted and glued the blank will help to stabilize the syncork and you shouldn't an issue with the cork separating after it's installed on a rod (for light rods anyway).

Right, once the grip is mounted on the rod you aren't going to flex it beyond a very slight amount.

................

I sanded the nubs off before gluing, as I though thtat might be a problem.

Thanks For The Replies,

I was just curious as to the texture of the material and not really aware of any construction problems. My son in law has used these these grips on rods thru his guiding service and stated that after a week of fishing with them that if given a finger print test his skin was worn down to a point that the test would not be able to pick up any prints.

Jeff Leonard

Muskyfsh

Where do you get this Syncork? I would like to try it.